The New Elizabethans

The New Elizabethans: Laurence Olivier. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

Laurence Olivier is considered by many to be Britain's most important and revered actor of the 20th century. Most famous for his classical roles, as a Shakespearean actor of breadth and panache, and as the driving force behind the development of the National Theatre, his later film career included roles such as the sadistic Nazi dentist in Marathon Man, with Dustin Hoffman, and in Sleuth with Michael Caine.

Olivier's private life and his three marriages were equally fascinating to his audiences, and particularly the great romance played out in public with Vivien Leigh, who he directed in many films and co-starred with in others. Olivier is one of only a handful of actors whose final resting place is Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, London.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

Producer: James Cook.

The New Elizabethans: Alfred Hitchcock. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

Alfred Hitchcock dealt in terror, obsession, and above all, suspense. He directed the first British talkie, fittingly called Blackmail, and in a career spanning half a century developed an unmistakeable cinematic style, often copied but seldom equalled. He is without doubt one of the most influential British film directors and his voyeuristic use of the camera and the screams of his vulnerable blonde heroines have resonated with film goers down the ages. Psycho is probably his most famous work, and a strong contender for best known horror film of all time but he also made Dial M for Murder, North by Northwest, the 39 Steps and The Birds.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

Producer: James Cook.

The New Elizabethans: Alan Sainsbury. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

Alan Sainsbury's grandparents, John and Mary, established a grocer's in 1869 which became the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's. When Alan Sainsbury retired as chairman nearly 100 years later in 1967, his business was established as the market leader - and it was he who'd presided over and championed the move to self-service. Alan Sainsbury was also heavily involved in politics, campaigned for the Republican side in the Spanish civil war, making common cause with conservatives and Communists in the process, and became a committed member of the Liberal Party (he'd joined Labour in 1945 and be a founding member of the SDP in the 1980s.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

producer Sarah Taylor.

The New Elizabethans: Doris Lessing. A spirited, straight-talking Nobel laureate who has been praised for her ability to inhabit different fictional worlds.

Radicalised in colonial Africa, her first novel The Grass is Singing is set in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where she grew up. The government there would later accuse her of "subversive activities" and she was labelled a prohibitive immigrant. Most famous as author of The Golden Notebook, she has resisted the way in which feminists have claimed the book as an inspiration and has been critical of the "rubbishing of men".

Awarded The Nobel Prize by the Swedish Academy in 2007, she was described as "That epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny".

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

They were asked to choose: "Men and women whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and/or given the age its character, for better or worse."

The New Elizabethans: Francis Crick. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

James Naughtie peers down the microscope at the talkative and incisive Nobel prize-winning molecular biologist who helped discover the structure of DNA. As the principal author of the 1953 paper in the journal Nature, Crick, alongside Jim Watson, established how messages might be carried by DNA, the memory system in our genes. His "central dogma" was that genetic information flows one-way in cells, from DNA to RNA to protein. Later he developed an interest in neuroscience and the problem of consciousness. The Francis Crick Institute due to open in London in 2015 will be the biggest centre for biomedical research and innovation in Europe.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

They were asked to choose: "Men and women whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and/or given the age its character, for better or worse."

The New Elizabethans: Vladimir Raitz, the pioneer of the package holiday. James Naughtie considers how Raitz broadened the horizons of the British holidaymaker and set the ball rolling for mass tourism in the Mediterranean.

To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord Hall, chief executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Max Hastings.

They were asked to decide "The men and women who, by their deeds, will be remembered in history for the way they shaped and illuminated our lives in these islands during the past sixty years. The New Elizabethans reflect the broadest view of public life, including, but not limited to, outstanding figures associated with politics, industry, business, academia, the professions, the armed services, science, technology, the arts, sport and popular culture, in all its forms."

The New Elizabethans: Michael Young. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

James Naughtie looks at the energetic and innovative founder of Which?, the Consumers' Association and the Open University. A social reformer bursting with ideas, Young challenged conventional thinking and was one of the leading minds behind the 1945 Labour manifesto which helped shape post-war Britain. Along side the Consumers' Association he set-up a network of advisory bodies and services and his legacy lives on in The Young Foundation which is still working to develop ventures which help the less well off.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings. They were asked to choose: "Men and women whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and/or given the age its character, for better or worse."

The New Elizabethans: Graham Greene. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

Graham Greene was among the foremost novelists of the Second Elizabethan age. He was a master of moral guilt and cold war intrigue with novels such as The Quiet American, Brighton Rock and The End of the Affair.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

They were asked to choose: "Men and women whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and/or given the age its character, for better or worse."

Producer: James Cook.

The New Elizabethans: Elizabeth David. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

James Naughtie delivers a flavour of the food writer who brought European cuisine to British tables. In the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, David's biographer Artemis Cooper article concludes: "David was the best writer on food and drink this country has ever produced. When she began writing in the 1950s, the British scarcely noticed what was on their plates at all, which was perhaps just as well. Her books and articles persuaded her readers that food was one of life's great pleasures, and that cooking should not be a drudgery but an exciting and creative act. In doing so she inspired a whole generation not only to cook, but to think about food in an entirely different way."

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

Producer: Sukey Firth.

The New Elizabethans: Edmund Hillary. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character. Edmund Hillary was the first man to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest. His achievement was announced on the day of the Coronation itself, providing a dramatic and positive beginning to the new Elizabethan era. Later he became the Queen's first Knight.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

They were asked to choose: "Men and women whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and/or given the age its character, for better or worse."